"Leaders at the Ministry of PUPR, especially the Directorate-General of Housing, are keen that the young generation become more involved in housing, specifically the One Million Houses Program," Director-General of Housing at the Ministry of PUPR Khalawi Abdul Hamid noted in a press release on Saturday.
Hamid pointed out that the development of decent housing in future required innovation and support from millennials on account of the limited housing area in the near future.
Currently, the One Million Houses Program is one of the government's priority programs in infrastructure and housing development for the public.
The government targets the construction of one million housing units for the community comprising 70 percent of houses for people from the low-income group (MBR) and the remaining 30 percent being houses for non-MBR.
Hamid expounded that various programs, such as the development of flats, special houses, and self-subsistent housing; distribution of infrastructure assistance, subsidized housing facilities and utilities (PSU), and subsidized housing loans (KPR); as well as support from local governments and the private sector through CSR, are also being unceasingly implemented in order to support implementation of the One Million Houses Program.
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Policies in the housing sector also continue to be facilitated by simplifying the proposal for housing assistance through the Housing Assistance System (Sibaru) application.
"We will continue to encourage the One Million Houses Program, so that Indonesians can avail decent housing. The young generation of Indonesia will be able to compete if they grow up in a decent place and a good environment," Hamid remarked.
Earlier, Hamid noted that the government had ensured that the housing development program, especially the One Million Houses Program, would continue despite the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia and the implementation of the Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) policy.
"The housing program will continue, and we have to innovate. We cannot wait until the pandemic is over. Life has to go on, and the program has to keep going," he noted during an online discussion on opportunities for development of the land provision policy monitored on Monday, July 26.
Hamid emphasized that the number of COVID-19 cases, which had begun to surge in mid-2021 in Indonesia, hindered the progress in the implementation of the One Million Houses Program, thereby recording a lesser result as compared to the previous years.
As of June 2021, only some 400 thousand houses had been built under the Million Houses Program.
"Usually, it can reach up to 600 thousand to 700 thousand," Hamid pointed out.
However, he made assurance that construction was ongoing by implementing health protocols for workers in the One Million Houses Program.
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Translator: M Rahman, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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